Love is Not a Victory March
by Sydrianfan4ever
Summary: Fred Weasley thought his life was perfect when Angelina Johnson agreed to be his Yule Ball date. After all, she was one of his best friends. He also liked her for years! But their relationship ends up not having the perfect fairytale ending after all. Written for the 50 Ways to Say Goodbye Challenge.


**A/N: This one shot is written for the 50 Ways to Say Goodbye Challenge and the "Not a Fairytale" challenge. I hope it turned out ok! Please leave a review! Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. Rowling does. I don't own the title either. It came from the song called Hallelujah. If something here looks familiar, I do not own it.**

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Fred remembered when he first started liking Angelina Johnson. They were in their fifth year, though he never really had the chance to ask her out. The twins hung around with Katie, Alicia, Angelina, and Lee Jordan often. At the time, it seemed strange to like another person in the group. He also knew that Lee liked Angelina since first year though.

That still did not stop him from admiring her whenever nobody was looking. In their sixth year, Hogwarts had the Triwizard tournament. He tried to enter it because he had wanted to impress Angelina. He wanted her to notice him. She did notice him, but not in the way that he wanted her to. The age potion plan did not work out like he thought it would, and it disappointed him. Fred tried to laugh it off with everybody else though.

Later that year, Professor McGonagall told everybody that there would be a Yule Ball. All the girls had been busy wondering who their dates would be. All of the boys were cringing at the thought of asking somebody.

Fred had been one of the few who appeared to be relaxed about it. He did not have a date really in mind when the Yule Ball was first announced, not even Angelina. When he saw his little brother in agony over the task, he decided that he wanted to prove to Ron how easy it was to ask a girl out. Angelina was the first girl he saw when he looked around the common room. Fred smiled when he remembered how he asked her.

_"Who are you going with, then?" Said Ron. "Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment._

_ "What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?" Fred faltered a little and ran his hand through his hair. He had to admit that his little brother had a point. He had to ask the girl first before he was her date._

_ "Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!" He waited for a few seconds. Angelina, who had been chatting had been talking to Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him._

_ "What?" She called back._

_ "Want to come to the ball with me?" Fred asked, not missing a beat. He wore a grin while she gave him an appraising sort of look._

_ "All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face. _

_ Fred was sure that he was positively beaming when he turned back to Harry and Ron. The girl he had a crush on for years had actually said yes to him! He was definitely going to gloat over this one._

_ "There you go," Fred said to Harry and Ron. "Piece of cake."_

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Fred's smile fell when he found a picture of the two of them. They had looked so happy at the ball. It was strange how things were so different a year later. Fred supposed that was his fault though. He stopped writing her over the summer time because Professor Dumbledore told them they had to watch what they put in letters. He fully intended on explaining everything when they got back to school, but she did not speak to him for days.

Quidditch practices were nightmares with her, though he tried to make it up to her by making her smile. But she was like a female Oliver Wood. She never cracked a smile. Instead, they ended up fighting frequently.

They had their worst fight after the first game. The Gryffindor team beat Slytherin, but the outcome was awful. Malfoy had taunted Harry about his mother, and then he decided to have a go at his mother as well. Katie, Alicia, and Angelina had managed to keep him from beating the git, but Harry had let George go and they both pounded him.

Professor Umbridge had decided to ban those two from ever playing Quidditch again. At the last minute, she had banned him. Fred had never felt worse in his life. Angelina had told Fred that she wanted the two to take some time apart to think about whether or not they should continue being a couple.

Two days later, Fred had figured out what his answer was. He had passed her a note in Transfiguration class that afternoon asking if they could meet in the Astronomy Tower to talk. They met after their last class. When they first arrived, they had the longest silence ever. Fred could not remember feeling more awkward in his life.

He took Angelina's hands in his and looked into her eyes. She stood there calmly, just looking at him. Fred was suddenly at loss for words, but he began speaking after he remembered his decision.

"Angelina… I have really liked spending time with you. I just…I think we are better off as being friends though. I feel like we bring the worse out in each other, and I do not want that anymore. I am sorry for how things have turned out. I think a break up might be for the best…"

Fred felt like he was saying all the wrong words, but he could not help it. He tended to ramble when he was nervous. He had never broken up with a girl before, and he hated the idea that he might break Angelina's heart. He didn't want to lose her as a friend, but he didn't want to fight with her anymore either.

To his relief, Angelina smiled sadly and nodded. "I've been thinking the same thing too. You are a great guy. I just don't think you are the guy for me." Fred looked up, hardly daring to believe his ears.

"So….so we're ok?" He stammered nervously.

Angelina nodded. "I think we will be if we break up. That sounds so weird to say."

Fred shook his head. "Not really. We made sense as friends. Though you were the best Yule Ball date," he said, grinning as he remembered that night. He realized that was the last night they had been happy with each other.

Angelina chuckled and whacked his arm lightly. "I'll never forget the way you asked me." She reached over and gave him a tight hug. "I'm sorry we didn't work out. I am going to miss you. I'm sorry about yelling at you after you got banned."

Fred's eyes darkened as she said the last word. He hated Professor Umbridge more for what she did. He scowled at the memory, but then shrugged nonchalantly. "George and I are working on a plan to get her back. Don't tell anybody though."

Angelina pretended to zip her mouth up with an imaginary key and threw it away. "Your secret is safe with me. She won't hear it from me. Be careful though, ok?"

Fred placed a hand on his heart and pretended to look touched at her warning. "Aww….she cares! I will be." He grinned wickedly. "She won't know what even hit her when it comes." Angelina raised an eyebrow at this, but she said nothing else. Silence fell between the two and they watched the snow start to fall again.

Angelina looked awkward, but finally began speaking again. "I should go. I really do want to be friends though, Fred." Fred gave her a genuine smile this time and pulled her into a hug. She hesitated, but then relaxed after a half a second.

"I really want to be friends too," Fred said honestly. Angelina pulled away after a second and smiled at him before she walked away.

"Bye, Fred."

"Bye, Angelina."

Fred could not believe how well that break up had gone. It was much better than he had expected it to go. He decided that he would wait for a long time before he let another witch come into his life again. She would have to be brilliant in order to put up with Fred Weasley! Fred puffed out his chest at the thought and started walking down the stairs, grinning at the thought. He couldn't wait to discover who that girl would be when the time came.

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** A/N: Thanks for reading! **


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